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New York, - US stocks pushed higher on Thursday, rallying after two down days on generally solid corporate earnings and a gain in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 225.48 points (1.31%) to 17 416.85. The index fell nearly 500 points in the prior two sessions.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 19.09 (0.95%) to 2 021.25, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 45.41 (0.98%) at 4 683.41.
Analysts cited a modest rise in oil prices as a source of calm after the commodity fell sharply on Wednesday.
"Investors are worried that falling commodity prices could lead to a deflationary period," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
Cardillo said earnings have been "pretty much okay" following a stream of reports encompassing a wide array of economic sectors.
Dow member McDonald's jumped 5.1% after the struggling fast-food giant announced Don Thompson would step down as chief executive and would be replaced by company veteran and chief brand officer Steve Easterbrook.
Dow member Boeing jumped 5.8%, gaining for a second day after Wednesday's earnings bested expectations. Apple also had a second day on the upswing after good earnings, rising 3.1%.
Chinese online giant Alibaba slumped 8.8% after sales for the December quarter came in at $4.22bn. That was 40% above the year-ago period, but below the $4.45bn projected by analysts.
The company also hit back at a Chinese regulator that accused Alibaba of selling fake good and labelled its executives "arrogant."
Yahoo, which Tuesday announced plans to spin off a large Alibaba stake, fell 5.9%.
Chipmaker Qualcomm plummeted 10.3% after the company lowered its profit forecast, citing greater competition in China, among other factors.
Ford Motor rose 2.7% after fourth-quarter earnings bested expectations and the company forecast higher profits in 2015 after a series of costly product launches in 2014.
ConocoPhillips advanced 0.4% on news it cut its 2015 capital budget to $11.5bn from $13.5bn due to low oil prices. The smaller Occidental Petroleum gained 2.4% following a similar announcement.
Other companies to report earnings included Colgate-Palmolive (+6.0%), Dow Chemical (+4.6%) and Facebook (+2.3%).
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.76% from 1.72% on Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.33% from 2.29%.
